Brad Egeland is a Business Solution Designer and IT/PM consultant and author with over 25 years of software development, management, and project management experience. Visit Brad's site at www.bradegeland.com

High Performing Business – Discernment – Balance

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

It takes a solid core to maintain balance – in every situation.

When things feel out of balance, life seems to send you what you need to bring it back into balance. I learned this lesson in my early 20’s when I burned the candle at both ends working hard and playing hard. To make the time to rest, I’d be forced into it with a nasty sore throat. Once I realized the message in this sore throat – I found ways to get more rest so I would not have to suffer from the sore throat mandatory rest requirement. My sore throats became a thing of the past as I brought my life into balance.

I see the same things playing out in numerous other ways running this business. When things get out of balance, just as I’m starting to discern things need to shift to bring things back into balance, some external event happens that forces the business back into balance. Balance means many things in this business:

Staff is contributing in ways that are bringing value balanced with the rewards they are receiving.

New efforts are generating sufficient rewards to continue their pursuit.

The energy to sustain a process is commensuarte with the value received from the process (like the accounting processes).

Strategic associations bring value aligned with the level of effort to sustain them.

Developing deeper discernment happens over time with running the business – it happens in part with the measurements put in place to judge the performance of our efforts, but it also comes from the experiences developed with running the business. Experience can be another word for “mistakes.” Learning from the mistakes is crucial to improve discernment of what is required to keep the business in balance.

The biggest challenges I see organizations face with staying in balance is when they replace senior staff with lower cost junior staff not realizing the level of discernment and balance the senior staffer’s perspective brings to their operation. They essentially weaken their core. While I’d like to promote some level of a Cheetah Learning course that can improve the discernment of lower cost junior staff member, it’s really about learning the ins and outs of running a business – which well, comes from running a business. Yes it is important to earn the requisite credentials of your craft – the the CCPM and PMP certifications for project managers. AND put in the actual time to develop the experience on the ground that makes the difference in developing the discernment required to keep an operation balanced and performing. One of the ways to tell this with respect to project managers is to see for how long they have maintained their credential – a project manager who as maintained their PMP credential for several decades has far more discernment in running effective projects than someone early in their career who just earns their PMP credential.

One of the reasons Cheetah Learning continues to be the rock solid business that it is – we run the company in a way that we have very little turn over (with both employees and clients). We help our Cheetah students who have earned their PMP’s maintain their credential by offering valuable follow on training that can help them master additional skills, at cheetah speed. We test out new people in the periphery of the business on a new initiative to see how they perform in a myriad of situations before bringing them into the main team. We make sure our core with which we maintain balance is strong and wide so not much tilts us one way or the other. The leadership group that runs the business works on the business as well as works in the business so they have the discernment required to know when things need a slight modification here or there to keep things running at peak performance. This has helped us weather a wide variety of external threats and enables us to stay the market leader in the Project Management training space world wide.

What Our Clients Are Saying...

“The first thing my boss said when I told him I was interested in getting my PMP certification was that if I was going to do it, he’d heard Cheetah Learning was the best.”

Mark Johnson

PMP

“Maintaining a team of certified Project Managers is a critical success factor in our competitive strategy. We hire some of the smartest and most talented people in our industry and we need to make sure any external training we use hits the mark consistently. And this is why we keep sending our folks to Cheetah Learning to get and keep their Project Management skills top notch. With Cheetah, the best of the best get even better.”

Ray C. Pitt

PMP

“A lot of people were joking that I did not need the class, but believe me I did. The PMP Exam is very unique and I personally do not believe that anyone will pass the exam without specific preparation… I always believe that any academic work will assist the practical side of the working knowledge, and the exam proved that again to me. I really believe that your course was the single most important part that contributed to my passing the exam. Thanks again and you are welcome to use me as a reference where you need me in the future.”

Dawie Steenkamp

PMP

“I just wanted to thank you again for your assistance with the memory map, and to let you know that I thought [Cheetah PMP coach] Jeff did a fabulous job last week. On day one Jeff said, ‘Stick with me, follow the program, and you will pass the test.’ He was right! I did pass the test, and I do not believe I could have done so without his assistance. He did a great job of keeping the class on track, answering our questions, and giving us great insights, tips, and techniques.”

Frank Peters

PMP

“We have been very pleased with our experience with Cheetah, so it is no surprise that another BAH [Booz Allen Hamilton] group is organizing a PMP session with you.”

Dana Yoo

Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton

“The Cheetah PMP prep program has helped our Project Managers achieve this important certification of knowledge and experience. The pursuit of this certification has developed the JDA Consulting Services Project Managers into strong project leaders.”

Tony

Senior Director of JDA Consulting Services

“If you had charged me $10,000 for this, I would have been happy to pay it. This [Cheetah Exam Prep® for the PMP® Exam] was the best course I ever took. PERIOD.”

J. C.

PMP, Project Manager – Jade Kat Project Management Inc.

“Just a note to let you know I passed the PMP exam with an 84%! I cannot imagine being able to study for and pass the PMP exam in so short a time were it not for your class. I seriously doubted whether the information required to pass the PMP exam could be covered and digested in only four days. I reasoned, however, that since you offer a money-back guarantee, there was little risk in taking a chance. It was so much easier to buy knowing that it was only a week out of my life, and if I didn’t pass, I would get all of my money back. The real proof of your class was that I passed the test and with an 84%, no less. I was impressed with your system, your instructors and with the results. It was results that I paid for, and it was results that your class delivered. I will be recommending your class to every Project Manager I know.”

M. B.

PMP, CEO - Clickguide Inc.

“I really like these on-line classes. I can travel quite a bit and it can be difficult to make local PMI meetings or attend local classes. As you know, it is very important to keep the PDUs in order to retain PMP status. I know some PMs who end up rushing to take classes to remain current.”

S. K.

PMP

“I’ve done two online courses late this year to complete my 60 PDUs, the other from a well-known provider, and this course [Cheetah’s PM Strength Builder] was much better… I actually got something out of it, rather than just spending the time going through the motions. Thanks.”

" "PMP", "CAPM" and the PMP and CAPM logos are certification marks of the Project Management Institute which are registered in the United States and other nations. The PMBOK® Guide - 5th Edition is a registered trademark of the Project Management Institute. CHEETAH LEARNING® provides both CAPM and PMP Exam preparation and continuing education for Project Managers."